1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical path changing member to be assembled at ends of optical fibers, and particularly to an optical path changing member placed on a substrate provided with an optical input/output terminal so that the optical fibers are optically connected to the optical input/output terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the following mechanism for optically connecting optical fibers to optical elements, such as light emitting elements (e.g. semiconductor lasers) and light receiving elements (e.g. photodiodes), has been widely used: the optical fibers are placed along a substrate having the optical elements mounted thereon; and an optical connector assembled at ends of the optical fibers is fixed to the substrate (see International Patent Publication WO/2004/097480).
The above-described optical connector has a structure for changing optical paths in order to optically connect the optical fibers to the optical elements.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-31556 discloses an optical coupling element having a structure for changing the directions of optical paths. The optical coupling element is made of a transparent material and has an inclined surface. Optical fibers are placed at an end face of the optical coupling element. Light which has entered the optical coupling element from the optical fibers is reflected by an inner surface of the inclined surface, whereby the directions of optical paths are changed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-121973 discloses an integrally-molded block-shaped optical connector made of a transparent material. This optical connector has closed-bottom optical fiber holes in which ends of optical fibers are inserted and fixed. At the front of the closed-bottom optical fiber holes, an optical axis change reflection surface is formed which directs the optical axes of the optical fibers toward entry/exit terminals.
The optical coupling element described in Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open No. 2005-31556 has integrally-molded lenses for optical axis matching at an end of the optical coupling element. The optical fibers are placed at positions facing these lenses. Accordingly, high-accuracy molding and high-accuracy positioning are needed to reduce connection loss.
However, since end faces of the optical fibers are placed at the end face of the optical coupling element, it is difficult to position the optical fibers and form the lenses with high accuracy. Thus, product yield tends to decrease.